Illogic of Empire
by Betsy
Summary: What if Osamu were the first Digimon Emperor? And what if he reassumed this title one day?
1. Prologue: Destiny

Destiny

Illogic of Empire  
Prologue: Destiny  
  


_Two children born together  
Two children born like one  
One hidden in the shadows  
One shining like the sun  
One to turn to darkness  
One to turn to light  
Two children of the daytime  
Two children of the night  
  
Daylight hates the shadows  
Nighttime hates the sun  
Both can't be together  
Each has room for one  
Apart then be the growing  
Though together they must be  
Together in a prison  
And what will set them free?_  
  
Three women sat in a small room. One looked young, seemingly just barely sixteen. She spun thread, many colors of many destinies. One looked of middle age, in her mid-forties. She measured the thread that was spun. The third bore scissors that cut the thread. She looked like an ancient crone, a hundred years old or more. Looks can be decieving. They were all three much older than that.  
Before them there was a large piece of parchment. On it were symbols in a strange language that only few knew. They were some of those few.  
Which one shall be which? asked the middle woman. Her name had been Lachesis, once. She had had many names, and would have more.  
I think we should let them decide for themselves. said the youngest. Her name used to be Clotho. She had also many names.  
Atropos disagreed. That takes all the fun out of messing with their minds! Besides, what if both of them choose the same side? That would be all too easy, considering their connections.  
So maybe we can only meddle a little. The prophecy automatically separates them, after all, so what you fear will not come to pass, Atropos. said Lachesis.  
If it is guaranted that the prophecy will be filled either way, then we don't need to meddle at all. interjected Clotho.  
But how do we know that the prophecy will be filled?  
  
_The one who hides in shadows  
Is yet the one of light  
The one who does the shining  
Is bringer of the night  
The elder turns to darkness  
And blots out ev'ry sun  
But yet the younger's kindness  
Does not make him the bright one  
  
Osamu,_ the voice in my head spoke, _Osamu, I need you._  
_What for?_ I replied.  
_To make me whole and strong.  
Why would I want to do that?  
There is a great reward in it for you._ I jumped at the chance. A reward? All right!  
_How do I do this?_ I thought-spoke back, trying to keep my excitement out of my mental   
_Hold out your hand._ I did so, and a beam of darkness shot out of my computer. It hit my hand and solidified, forming a strange device. It was egg-shaped and pure black. On the wide part there was a small screen, and on the narrow part there were some buttons and two grips. I held it up to my computer, somehow knowing that that was what I must do. I was sucked into my computer and into a new world.  
_Conquer this world,_ the voice said, _and I will be strong again. And you get to keep the Digital World when you're done.  
Why?  
It is your destiny to be the Emperor of the Digimon.  
_Digimon Emperor. That sounded nice. Ruler of a whole world. I'd make a good ruler, too. I was the perfect one.  
  
Osamu had changed. He'd always been hard-edged, of course, but now he was more so. Lately he'd been secretive, hiding in his room for hours with the door locked. He almost never took me out on the balcony to blow bubbles anymore. He was always so arrogant now. I guessed it was all the attention he got because he was always so I watched him being fussed over by my parents. Why did I never get half that attention? Half would be more than enough for me.  
A little later I went into the room Osamu and I shared to see if he wanted to blow bubbles with me. He was sitting on the floor and looked a bit tired. I sat down in front of him. Suddenly a beam of light shot out of the computer. It landed between us and changed into a odd circular electronic thing. It had a square screen and three buttons.  
Don't touch it. I need to find out what it is. And he left the room for whatever reason.  
But I touched it anyway. It felt almost as if it were calling me. And when I touched it, it felt right somehow. It shone when I touched it. But then Sam came back in he saw me. He took it from me and yelled about me touching his stuff. I sat there and took the abuse. My parents would take his side anyway. _Osamu, sometimes I wish you'd just disappear._  
  
_Two keepers of the Balance  
Unbalanced though they be  
If they ever find their balance  
What then shall they see?  
Bearer of the darkness  
Will you yet find the light?  
Little boy of daytime  
Will you learn about the night?  
_  
NOOOO!  
Osamu, I didn't mean it. Come back. I didn't really want you to disappear. Not this the most final way. Osamu, come back. Come back and blow bubbles with me. I'll keep my hands off your stuff. Just come back!  
We had been walking home from school. Osamu walked halfway across one of the busier streets before he noticed that I wasn't with him. He turned to call me. That was when it happened. During his turn, he wasn't paying attention to the cars behind him. One slammed into his back. He fell and it ran over him. He was dead before he reached the hospital.  
The next week, at night, I was sitting in Osamu's old room, at his old computer. I was playing Tetris when suddenly an email alert blinked. I clicked on it. I knew that I shouldn't read his email, but it was probably spam anyway, considering that he was dead.  
Ken. Yes, I know it's you reading this, not Osamu. It's your email, anyway. Now that Osamu is dead, you must carry his destiny as well as your own. Your parents will not give up their dreams of a perfect child as easily as that. You need to be the perfect son they lost in Osamu.  
But what is my destiny? And if I turn into Sam, will there be any room left for Ken?  
Open the drawer. I did so. In it was the odd computer-thing Sam had taken from me. I felt it calling me again. And once again I did not resist its call. I felt its warm light wash over me again, and somehow knowing what I must do I held it up to the computer.  
Once I held it to the computer, the thing—Digivice, the name came to me—seemed to tug me closer to the computer. Powerless to stop its pull, I leaned closer and closer until finally I was sucked into the computer. I felt a strange sensation like I was rushing to meet someone—myself—and then I came out on the other side of that feeling. I landed in an odd beach near a lake. I felt another pulling sensation, but this one didn't come from the Digivice, it came from the lake. It felt different, too. The Digivice felt warm, but this call felt cold. Despite its feel, I obeyed the call, and put my Digivice into the lake. As I looked at it the Digivice changed. It lengthened and blackened. I knew then what my new destiny was. I had inherited the Digital World from Sam. Now I had to control it, and finish the job of conquering that he had started.  
  
_Keeper of the light  
Now keeper of the dark  
Will you bring on the night?  
Or will kindness find its mark?  
Can you find the truth?  
Can you find the way?  
Or will the world be dark  
And never gain find day?  
  
_I grew over the four years from then to now. I grew in height and in knowlegde. I grew in power over the Digital World. The latter was brought about, albeit indiectly, by a small, insignifigant Digimon named Wormmon. He followed me about everywhere and would obey my every whim. I wondered why he was so loyal. Once, I saw my Digivice reacting when he walked into a room. This gave me the clue I needed; could my Digivice be bonding him to me? I began to experiment with focusing the Digivice on other Digimon in order to bind them similarly. However, the effect, though present, was always weak and would vanish as soon as I stopped applying power. I researched other ways. I had heard that on Server there was an old, ruined castle with an extensive library. I found the castle (they weren't joking about the ruined part) and poked around in the library. It was there that I solved both problems, both of power and duration. One of the books I read was a history of the Digiworld, I had read about Black Gears that would give their master complete control over Digimon. When I made a foray to File Island, I discovered that their power had faded with the death of their master, though.  
In another book, however, I read about the making of Power-rings, apparently, were small devices that fit on the arm, tail or neck of a Digimon. They would take a small part of that Digimon's inner power and multiply it extremely. That extra power could then be put to the Digimon's use. I had kept the Black Gears that I had experimented on, and thought to combine their code with that of the power-rings. I made power-rings that directed their power, not to the Digimon, but to a control-bond with me. When I tested these new dark rings, they worked perfectly. That day was the one I truly became Digimon Emperor.  
  
_Confined inside a prison  
Will a Light's soul ever be  
While the body that it lives in  
Does evil, but's carefree  
But Light tends to break out  
No matter how confined  
Though he tries to mask it  
Is the one of evil kind?_  
  
One day I was working on my latest plan to eliminate the Digidestined. I would create a Digimon of unbelieveble power, a fitting partner for my might. Wormmon was against this, but I pressed on ahead. What did I care about a small, idiotic Digimon who just was jealous of my new Digimon? I was creating a perfect Digimon, more strong than even the legendary Mega-levels. A perfect Digimon for a perfect human. If he were truly my friend, he'd try to support me. But he's just jealous. Sometimes I wonder if he even is loyal to me anymore. He's done so many things for the Digidestined freeing Agumon urging me to stop fighting refusing to help me on Project Chimera.  
I finally finished Kimeramon, my perfect new partner. Finished him, that is, except for the final pair of arms. I located a dark whirlpool, a center of power. I could find a powerful Digimon there to the arms from. At first, the Mekanorimon squads I sent failed. But you should never trust anything really important to anyone besides yourself, anyway. You're the only person you can trust to get the job done. Wormmon had proved that, when he refused to do Project Chimera.  
I went down into the whirlpool myself. There I found a large Digimon. Its name was Devimon. Although Champion-level on the surface, Devimon actually fought at a level much closer to a fairly powerful Ulimate. That made it a definite candidate for inclusion. When I looked at its arms, I thought that it would be crazy not to include them. It had long arms with clawlike hands on the end. Perfect. I suctioned away its arms. As I did so, a voice spoke in my head. It was a voice I had heard once, long ago, in a dream. Then it had said, Don't worry, Ken. You have a part to play too. You will not just be the forgotten younger brother of the great Osamu. You will play your own part in the downfall of his arrogance. This had been after Osamu took my Digivice away. The next day he had died. I'd always thought that my frustrated half-wish had come true. Sometimes I wish you'd just disappear. I wish the goblins _would_ take you away. Words uttered in the heat of the moment and only true as they are said. But they can have lasting impact.  
The voice said,_ Ken, are you sure you want to do this?  
Of course.  
You are playing with power you do not understand and cannot control.  
I am the Digimon Emperor! I control this world completely and none can stop me!_  
  
A little while after I unleashed Kimeramon on those idiot Digidestined, my scanners detected an intrustion. I went to investigate and found that one of that motley crew had somehow penetrated as far as corridor H-16. It was TK. His blond hair, normally kept inside a hat, was unkempt and free. He had a look of grim determination on his face.  
Get out of my way!  
he said boredly, almost sleepily.  
I hit him with my whip for his insubordination against the Digimon Emperor. A red welt appeared on his cheek, and he put his hand up to it almost indifferently.  
So when you run out of words you just resort to violence? There are times for fighting and there are times for speech. I stood there, stricken by his words. Now is a good time for talking, He edged closer to me, and with a great leaping launch towards me yelled, but it's a good time for fighting as well!  
We had a large fistfight, which I was coming out the loser until Kimeramon interrupted by crashing through the top of that corridor. We both ran away, in opposite directions. I thought about what he had said. But not for very long.  
  
Later I detected another intrusion in my fortress. I turned on the cameras for that area, the main bay, and saw that those dolts had come back. I sent Kimeramon to dispatch them. They really weren't worth my time. He fought with his usual efficiency, and soon dispatched their Digimon. A true testament to the wonders of proper scientific design.  
Then I saw what had happened to their defeated Digimon. They had turned back, not into their normal forms, but into much smaller ones. At first I veiwed this as a triumph, but them I recognized their new forms. They were the babies I had seen the Digidestined carting around at the soccer game. The babies I was hurting babies! I was hurting real creatures, not just pieces of code! I'd never realized it.  
A voice came floating up in my mind. _Of course. Did you think that it was just a game? Osamu, give up. You've lived your life. I would like _me_ back, please._  
Another voice, the one of the email, said, _Don't listen! Ken, you've nearly done it! Just a few more blows and you have won this war! Keep strong!  
No! Ken, you have your life to live! Live yourself!_ was the reply.  
I thought back at both of them, whoever they were,_ Just shut up! Shut up and leave me alone! Both of you!_  
  
_So then this conflict comes to head  
And climatic fight is reached  
The ever loyal one's friendship  
Lets evil's cold wall be breached  
In tenseness of his waiting  
Of kindness its Guardian learns  
And in his fitful pond'rings  
The darkness finally turns_  
  
A few minutes later Wormmon and I were watching Kimeramon and Magnamon fight. Wormmon kept on urging me to give in and capitulate. I told him that I never would, that I would win this. And I was winning. Magnamon was at the end of his strength. Suddenly Wormmon pushed me off the Devidramon we were riding. He began to glow with a strange light. And he helped the Digidestined. He helped them. He used his last energy to heal and revitalize Magnamon. And Magnamon used that gift as Wormmon told him to: in a final attack against Kimeramon. I ran to him, and saw him dying.  
_Is it still a game?_ two voices which I had heard before chorused. _Can you control the powers you summoned?_ asked the voice from the whirlpool.  
_You can't. Kimeramon was his own Digimon, not one of your slaves,_ replied the other voice from the two, the voice that had said I would like _me_ back, please.  
_Don't listen!  
Why not?_ I thought back. _You brought me to this._ _Is it working? No. I'll make up my own mind this time, thanks._ I suddenly realized how awful I had been. I did the only thing I could. I cried.  
  
_I can't wake up until I find my heart,_ I thought. I had done so many awful things. Did I even have a heart anymore? I didn't know. I thought I had maybe lost mine. Was that what that voice had meant? Had I had Sam's heart all that while, as part of me filling his destiny? So now I had gotten rid of his heart, and his destiny of Digimon Emperor. Now what heart did I have? Osamu's destiny, and Osamu as well, had indeed pushed out Ken. Could come back?  
I went back to the Digiworld. I didn't know why. I didn't really expect to find any healing there. I guess it was just the only place I could go. It was marginally better thatn staying home. When I got there it was a place I'd never been before. It had shining Astroturf-like grass and tall towers of oversized blocks. Thousands of Digieggs littered the ground, interspersed with cradles containing baby Digimon. I asked one of those babies, a Punimon, what this place was.  
Primary Village, where Digimon are reborn.  
Hope rose in my heart. Do you know where Wormmon could be?  
Why should I tell you? You're the evil Digimon Emperor. Wormmon's better off without you. I knew those words to be true. I looked at myself. Ken the genius, the perfect one at whatever he tried—for good or for evil. _Put a book in these hands and I'm Ken Ichijouji the genius. But put a whip in them and I'm the evil Digimon Emperor._ The Punimon and I argued for a while longer, it saying such things that I only wanted Wormmon back to prove that I wasn't so bad after all. Most of them, thinking about it, were absolutely true. I was still the Digimon Emperor, no matter how I tried to put the past behind me. I would always be marked by the evil I had done. There are some stains that never wash off. But I can try to help. Even without Wormmon, I can still try to heal the hurts I have caused. It'll be harder without him. But I can't make excuses for myself anymore. I need to do what I can instead of saying I can't.  
As I realized this, voice spoke in my mind. _So you finally figured it out. Good. Now I can come back._ And I felt something, the empty place where my kindness had once been, fill again. I realized the true meaning of the prophecy Kindness shall release the golden radiance. My kind otherself had come back, just temporarily, when I saw the Digibabies being hurt by Kimeramon. That had activated the Golden Digiegg. Deep in my musings about the nature of the crests, it took me a while to realize that mine was glowing. Very brightly. Another thing glowed too, a Digiegg a little ways from me. Could it be Wormmon's? I walked closer, and it hatched. It held a small green Digimon with a leaf held over its head.  
I'm Leafmon, the baby form of Wormmon!  
  
That night, I stood on my balcony, thinking, with Leafmon by my side. I wondered. Had I well and truly killed Sam, when I rejected the destiny I inherited from him? Why had he stayed, in the first place? He was gone now, no matter the answer. But should he have stayed? He'd be what, fifteen now? Still plenty of life to live. But I have my own life, and a little selfish streak in me wanted it to stay mine. Still, was that how the Guardian of Kindness was supposed to feel?  
A shape materialized before me. It was Sam, Sam as he would look now, had he lived that long. A ghost. Ken. Ken, don't worry.  
Sam? Do you forgive me?  
What's there to be sorry for? Any apologies should be on my part, for making you carry the burden of my destiny for so long. Instead of apologizing, accept my thanks.  
  
I was selfish and foolish to stay on as long as I did. Ken, thank you for doing for me what I would not do voluntarily. Thank you for cutting the tie to your destiny I had established. Thank you for setting both of us free from the one who made us Emperors.  
Y-you're welcome. I said, stuttering slightly in my surprise.  
  
_So cleansed of his unbalance  
Light's keeper comes to see  
That in killing off the darkness  
They both will ever be  
The two of Light from darkness  
Stronger for their odessey  
And in the death of eldest  
They each set the other free_  
  
Three old crones sat in front of a woven tapestry. So. The pattern was not as we expected it, said one.  
But my way still worked, Orgoch. They separated into a boy of light and a boy of darkness, and in the end the one of light turned the one of darkness. Admittedly they took a while getting there, but  
Be quiet, the both of you. Orgoch. Yes, it took a roundabout way. But it worked. Orwen. You don't need to brag. It wasn't the most efficient way the prophecy could have been fufilled.  
What of the Digimon Empress, Ordu?  
You know the prophecy as well as I do: Break the darkness; guard the light/Lead us into day from night At any rate, we have to get working on that one. And this time, we'll order and they'll obey. Nothing counteracts Fate.  
Their silvery laughter at Ordu's pun sounded like that of young maidens a fifth their apparent age.


	2. Chapter One: The Calling

prologue

Illogic of Empire  
Chapter One: The Calling  


  
Ken stood on his balcony, thinking, with Leafmon by his side. He wondered, _Did I well and truly kill Osamu, when I rejected the destiny I inherited from him? Why had he stayed, in the first place? _He was gone now, no matter the answer, so Ken knew it was futile, and depressing furthermore, to think about it. But still he wondered. _Should I have let Osamu stay? He'd be what, fifteen now? Still plenty of life to live. But I have my own life!_ A little selfish streak in him wanted it to stay his, too, instead of at the beck and call of dead older brothers. _Still, is this how the Guardian of Kindness is supposed to feel?  
_  
A shape materialized before him. It was Osamu, Osamu as he would look now, had he lived that long. A ghost. Ken. Ken, don't worry.  
  
Osamu? Do you forgive me?  
  
What's there to be sorry for? Any apologies should be on my part, for making you carry the burden of my destiny for so long. Instead of apologizing, accept my thanks.  
  
  
  
I was selfish and foolish to stay on as long as I did. Ken, thank you for doing for me what I would not do voluntarily. Thank you for cutting the tie to your destiny I had established. Thank you for setting both of us free from the one who made us Emperors.  
  
Y-you're welcome. Ken said, stuttering slightly in his surprise.  
  
I'll have to leave soon. Dead brothers are supposed to stay dead, after all. I was lucky to get this one chance to see you again. Osamu's ghost sighed. I just wish it could be longer, or that I could come back. He shook his head. But there's no use in wasting precious time complaining. Any brotherly things we need to catch up on?  
  
They spent the night talking about said brotherly things, constantly wishing that they had more time. Perhaps if they'd grown up as normal brothers they'd have had such midnight sessions frequently, instead of the one night they had. Of course, it was more likely that they wouldn't. Such things as sibling rivalry and strictly enforced curfews would probably eradicate bull-session time even more effectively than a trifle like the death of one brother. No matter how trite and harsh it sounds, their enforced and rivalry had probably pulled them together.  
  
As dawn broke, Osamu's dim form faded. I'm sorry I can't stay longer, Ken. I'll be watching you, though it's sad that that's the closest we can get. Make me proud. He dematerialized completely.  
  
_Oh yes, brother, I will._  
_______________________________  
  
So what of the Digimon Empress? Lachesis said, echoing Atropos's question.  
  
Clotho took a handful of rainbow-dyed wool and threw it in the air, where it clumped into three human shapes. There are three major possibilities. Inoue Momoe and Chiziru, and Motomiya Jun. All three are high-school girls, making them the appropriate age, and all, more importantly, are sisters to a Digidestined.  
  
Are you sure these are the only choices? None of them looks particularly inclined to evil.  
  
Unfortunately, yes.  
  
Atropos leapt upon this problem with relish. I _told_ you and I _told_ you and I _told_ you so. Letting these pitiful humans decide their fates was idiotic, I said, and now I'm vindicated. If you two had listened to me, and directly interfered, we'd have a perfect couple now, Emperor and Empress, and the two requisite Digidestined would be on the way to kill them _properly_, instead of the chintzy halfway method Ken used on Osamu.  
  
Please be a bit less vindictive, Atropos dear. Lachesis interrupted primly, in defense of Clotho.  
  
Oh, no, Lachesis, we can thank Atropos for saying that, Clotho replied. Noticing their somewhat surprised expressions, she explained. I believe you said something to the effect of, we'd have a perfect couple now, Emperor and Empress?'  
  
Atropos nodded.  
  
Well, why can't we still? Why don't we persuade one of the former Emperors, doesn't matter which one, to turn back to evil, and then use him as bait to attract a suitable Empress? Both the Inoue Digidestined and the Motomiya Digidestined are associated with the Digidestined of Kindness; it'll be a simple matter to dangle one of the Emperors in front of a Empress-canidate's nose. All three tend to crush on people easily, which further helps our task. All the meddling we'll need to do is convincing Oikawa's group to re-recruit an Emperor.  
  
You're obsessed with not meddling, Clotho. Atropos grumbled, but agreed.  
_______________________________  
  
Oikawa couldn't help but worry that his carefully laid plans would nonetheless fail. The Emperor plan had failed... first the one made a power grab, and then the other turned good, of all the random things. And that plan had been perfect! This one had flaws from every angle... or perhaps he had just gotten better at spotting flaws over the years.  
  
First he had to grab Ken, the second (and less reliable) of the two Emperors. Then he had to extract Ken's dark seed, the tool that had enabled Oikawa to control him. Then he had to round up a few dozen kids and implant seeds in them. And after that... well, he had to hope that no parents noticed some of the more unpleasant side effects of dark-seed implantation.  
  
And there was not a bat's chance in hell of the latter happening.  
  
If only he could go back to the days of the Digital Empire... things would be so much simpler. But Osamu was dead... he'd had to kill him, after that power play... and Ken was even further out of his reach. He'd somehow managed to neutralize the control the dark seed had over his thought processes.  
  
It was too bad humans couldn't be reborn, as Digimon could. It really was too bad. If only he could ressurect Osamu... he had been so promising. Asn if he did that, Osamu would be loyal out of sheer gratitude. Oh, it would be so nice to have one of his human toys back, to conquer the Digiworld for him...  
  
Oikawa sighed, and set about refining his plan. Would there be any way to refine the dark seeds, and make their invasion of the children more gradual? That might null some of the side effects. Turning to a computer, he hooked into his Digiworld databases. These were chock-full of as much information as he could steal from Gennai and co.'s databanks. He keyed in the search terms dark, power, control, and pressed the button.  
  
First result—Dark rings. Second result, dark spirals... on and on. The first fifty results were all concerned with the various ways of bucking the control systems Emperor Ken had used. They were useless to him... he was seeking new knowledge, and he'd half-designed all those systems himself!  
  
Result #51 seemed even more useless, a fluke or search error in all likelihood. What possible relevance could a historical treatise on the Etemon/Datamon rivalry have? Still, perhaps they had used some sort of novel control system on their servants. Oikawa dutifully read through the treatise.  
  
He was rewarded, although not in a way he'd anticipated.  
  
At that point, Datamon made a clone copy of Takenouchi Sora, the Digidestined of Love. This copy had the potential to be fully human, and would become Sora if given her crest.  
  
Fully human! If it was possible to create humans in the Digiworld... then it was possible to create bodies for old ghosts lying around. Old ghosts that went by the name and title of Ichijouji Osamu, first of the Digimon Emperors...  
_______________________________  
  
Jun sat in her room, silently sobbing. Or at least she _thought_ she was silently sobbing... in reality, her sobs were all too audible. And they were annoying the other members of her family to no end. Eventually, her brother Daisuke came in the room and decided to vent said annoyance.  
  
Honestly, Jun, he said witheringly.  
  
Honestly what?! she replied, tears running down her face. I have plenty to cry about, thank you very much.  
  
Like what? was his reply. That a teen idol you had a crush on and blackmailed into going on _one date_ with you has decided to be even more blatant about the fact that he doesn't like you and start going out with a girl he actually likes for a change?  
  
Jun blinked, and began to cry even more furiously... and loudly. Daisuke sweatdropped, thinking, _Maybe I was a little harsh..._  
  
Jun suddenly brightened. Ken had just entered the room, reminding her that there were plenty of cute, talented guys in the world. And this particular cute, talented guy was good friends with her brother, so she'd be seeing a lot of him anyway...  
_______________________________  
  
Oikawa stood triumphantly in the middle of his Digiworld lab. Lying on a lab table was a perfect version of the late Ichijouji Osamu, looking as he would if he'd lived to fourteen. Paraphrasing the history he'd read, Oikawa said dramatically,  
  
At that point, Oikawa made a clone copy of Ichijouji Osamu, first of the Digimon Emperors. This copy had the potential to become fully human, and would become Osamu if given his crest.  
  
Oikawa proudly withdrew a small chip of some material or object. It was the exact reverse of the Crest of Kindess, dark purple with pink tracings. The crest was Sadism, and perfect for a tyrant. He held it high over his head and bowed to a nonexistent audience. Then he placed the crest in Osamu's cold hand.  
  
It let out a strangely cold miasma of purple darkness. Somewhat paradoxically, Osamu's body began to warm. His eyes blinked open. At first their stare was somewhat zombielike, but it gradually gained awareness as the miasma spread. Osamu sat up and point-blank asked Oikawa,  
  
Why am I alive?  
  
Oikawa was somewhat taken aback. He hadn't anticipated quite this reaction. Nevertheless, he collected himself enough to respond, The job of Emperor is open again.  
  
Osamu gazed back noncommitally. This _really_ wasn't the reaction Oikawa'd anticipated. He was rather nervous... what if Osamu didn't accept? Feigning nonchalance, he continued, It's the only reason I brought you back. I've no use for you if you don't accept; unless you do, I'll kill you and use this body for a useful purpose. Surely he could think of one.  
  
Osamu pondered this. On the one hand, he'd in effect promised Ken to not do anything like this. On the other hand... he'd be alive again. Maybe he and Ken would have a chance to be brothers... and besides, he was destined for this job.  
  
The crest of Sadism's influence was penetrating further, leaving Osamu with only one effective choice.  
  
I accept, he replied. Now, where's my old throne room? I expect that it's in need of some repair.  
  


**TO BE CONTINUED...**


End file.
